Dear St Monica’s families and friends

School Council News

Are you interested in helping our School Council? Why not join one of their Sub-Committees! We are looking for people with green thumbs, with communications expertise, to help with meal preparation, to help with letterbox drops and classroom parent representatives! An expression of interest form will be sent home with the eldest child from each family next week, so please look out for this in bags. You are welcome to email the school council: council.stmonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au

Did you know....?

This is a photo of Ginninderra Public School, 1905. Charles William Thompson (1868 - 1948) was the Great-Great Grandfather of Raylah (5M) and one of the first teachers in the Canberra district. He taught in several schools for 50 years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Charles was also the first teacher appointed to the brand new Federal Capital Territory!

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week 

Ava F, Isreal O, Aleer A, Sehajnoor K, Liam Mc, Nicholas P, Ryan W

Third Week of Lent – Coming to Know Jesus through Lent

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Janice, a Wagilak woman and traditional dancer who tells her family’s stories through movements handed down over generations.

Like many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Janice’s faces a range of challenges – low employment and education, financial hardship, poorer health and lower life expectancy.

With your help, Caritas Australia supports Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, which operates a centre for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture, providing employment and generating income for local communities.

Janice believes that Djilpin Arts’ work is essential to create opportunities for young people to stay on-country, to share intergenerational knowledge between elders and the younger generation - to promote healing, and to keep culture alive.

Watch a short film about Janice’s story here.

Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Weekly Tweet from Pope Francis

Today, reflect on Pope Francis’ tweet from Monday. As we prepare for Easter, let us open our hearts to God’s tenderness.

Parish Sacramental Program 2022

If you have a child in Years 3, 4, or 6 in 2022 this is a Sacramental year.

This also applies if your child is in Year 5 and he/she has previously missed the Sacraments of Reconciliation and/or First Eucharist.

Sacrament of First Eucharist - will be celebrated on the weekend of 18 and 19 June 2022 (Corpus Christi Sunday) across the four Parish Sunday Masses.

6pm - 18 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt;

8am - 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen;

10am – 19 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt; and

5.30pm – 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen.

Parent Formation Evening

The parent formation evening will be held on Thursday 31 March 2022 at 6pm via zoom at     https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/j/62414099856

Registration for the Sacrament of First Eucharist

Registration must be made via the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Qkr! App (NOT the school app).

Registrations will open on Monday 4 April 2022 and will close by Friday 29 April 2022.
No late registrations will be accepted after the closing date.

Commitment Masses

Students and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (6pm Saturday or 10am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8am or 5.30pm Sunday) on one of the dates listed below to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May
Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 May
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.

Purchasing a stole for First Eucharist

Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole please make a payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and then send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au and arrangements will be made for delivery/pickup.

Confirmation will be celebrated in Term 3, 2022.

Reconciliation will be celebrated in Term 4, 2022.

For further Information regarding the Sacramental Program – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website for updates at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Thank you to all the families who have already donated Easter items for the Easter Hampers. We have received some lovely items but are still in need of more donations to make some beautiful Hampers.

Reminder that all raffle tickets and donations are required by the end of week 9 Friday 1 April 2022.

Harmony Day - It was lovely to see the splashes of Orange worn by our students last Friday. The students in Cultural Dress looked amazing. What a wonderful way to celebrate Diveristy and Inclusivity at our school.

World's Greatest Shave - Joel raised $1630 and Patrick raised $1250. A fantastic result!

Schools Chess Challenge at Woden 2022 - Primary Schools Division

This Sunday 27 March from 9.15am-1.45pm the Canberra Academy of Chess is running a one-day chess competition for Primary school students in the ACT. All schools are invited and there is no minimum or maximum number of players who can take part from each school. See details below.

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 2 was sent home last week and orders will close on Friday 25 March at 11.55pm. Orders need to be placed using the LOOP. All orders support the school library. Thank you to all families who have placed orders.

For Recess on Thursday 7April 2022 we will be including Hot Cross Buns on the menu. The Hot Cross Bun menu will be available from Friday 25 March. The normal recess menu will also be available on that day. The sale of Hot Cross Buns coincides with our celebration of Holy Week and the Stations of the Cross. A percentage of profits from morning tea on this day will be donated to Caritas and this amount will be published to the school community. Cut off for sales of Hot Cross Buns will be Monday 4 April 2022 at 5.30pm. In gratitude for our canteen customers, a ticket will be created for every recess order received via Qkr! for Thursday 7 April 2022.  There will be a lucky prize of a Master Foods cooler bag filled with goodies from the canteen and our canteen manager. This lucky draw acknowledges my appreciation for your custom of the canteen, but also your support of our Hot Cross Bun morning tea, so that we can further contribute to the efforts of Caritas.

If anyone has a  spare hour or so on the morning of 7April to assist with the morning tea your time would be appreciated. Please feel free to pop your details on our volunteer sheet link.volunteersignup.org/3P9AJ

Speaking of volunteering efforts, I am so grateful to the following people who contributed their valuable time last week - Trina Browne, Samantha Cox, Fiona Steinberg, Katherine O’Sullivan, Chris Regan, Tim Porter and a special welcome to our new volunteer Anoushka Goodger. I couldn’t deliver over 240 lunches (in two days) without the contribution of these wonderful, giving volunteers.

Lastly, for all those children missing chicken nuggets, I am introducing chicken tenders to the menu on Thursdays at lunch. I hope that children find something that they can enjoy from the canteen. Thanks once again to everyone for your support of our school canteen.

MERICI COLLEGE ENROLLING NOW CAMPAIGN

A wonderful opportunity for prospective families to see the College in action, meet our students and attend the Principal’s Address, Year 7 and 11 Information Evenings and lots more.

We are enrolling now for 2023 and beyond!

Please visit www.merici.college for all dates and information for our Open Day, Be a Merici Girl Days and Talk and Tours. Register online now!

Open Day, Principal’s Address and Year 7 2022 Information Night: Tuesday 3 May

Be a Merici Girl Days: 29 April, 2 and 9 May

Talk and Tours: 30 March, 7 May, 20 August, 22 October